Data Analysis

Familiarity with Terms: Urban Forest, Ecosystem, and Ecosystem Service

This section presents results of analysis pertaining to familiarity with three terms. We used familiarity as a proxy for knowledge or understanding of the term. We determined that asking for level of familiarity would be less of a burden on respondents, rather than asking a series of questions to evaluate objective knowledge. We posed the following question for survey participants:

In this question, we would like to get a better idea of how familiar you are with three terms.

Directions: Please indicate how familiar you are with each term, by circling one number that corresponds with your level of familiarity, from 6 (Very familiar) to 0 (You have never heard the term before).

a. The term "urban forest" has been described as all publically and privately owned trees and other plants, in and around a city - including individual trees along streets and in backyards, as well as remaining patches of forest that have not been converted to developed uses. How familiar are you with the term "urban forest?"

b. The term "ecosystem" has been described as a system of plant, animal, and microorganism communities, and nonliving elements like water and soil, that all interact as a group. How familiar are you with the term "ecosystem?"

c. The term "ecosystem service" has been described as the goods or services nature produces that are used, either directly or indirectly, to benefit people. How familiar are you with the term "ecosystem services?"

The following tables show the statistical comparisons between groups. These tables show where statistically significant differences occur, and whether those differences could be considered minimal, typical, or substantial.